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Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1992 video game)

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Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
NES game box front cover art
Developer(s)Lucasfilm Games
Sculptured Software
NMS Software (GB)
Publisher(s)
Designer(s)Mike Ebert
Kalani Streicher
Programmer(s)Ken Grant
Artist(s)Harrison Fong
Armand Cabrera
Jon Knoles
Composer(s)Paul Webb
Mark Cooksey (GB)
Platform(s)Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy
ReleaseFamicom/NES
  • JP: March 12, 1992
  • NA: March 1992
  • EU: 1992
Game Boy
  • NA: January 1993
  • NA: 1996 (rerelease)
Genre(s)Action-platformer
Mode(s)Single-player

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is a video game released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992. It is the sequel to the original Star Wars video game released the previous year, also on the NES.

It is the second of three video games released under the Empire Strikes Back title that were developed directly for home video game systems. It was preceded by a version for the Atari 2600 and succeeded by Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back for the Super NES.

Development and release

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The Empire Strikes Back was eventually ported to the Game Boy, being reprinted and distributed by various publishers over the course of three years. On July 26, 2019, the NES and Game Boy versions were officially re-released in both standard and Collector's Edition sets with Disney and Lucasfilms's approval in limited quantities on unlicensed replica game cartridges by Limited Run Games.[citation needed]

After the game was completed, the developers were occupied making Super Star Wars for the Super NES, so a corresponding NES sequel covering the film Return of the Jedi was never developed, nor released.[1]

Gameplay

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Screenshot from the game's first level (NES), showing platforms, power-ups and an Imperial Probe Droid

The game features multiple objectives, such as destroying an Imperial Probe Droid, escaping a Wampa-infested ice cavern, fighting during the Battle of Hoth, locating Master Yoda on Dagobah to train with him, and attempting to rescue allies in Cloud City from Darth Vader.

Unlike in the previous game, Luke Skywalker is the only playable character. He is able to fight with a blaster pistol or a lightsaber, and can also board a snowspeeder during the Battle of Hoth. As Luke becomes stronger in the Force throughout the game, he develops multiple Force Powers that aid him along the way.

The game's ending differs drastically from the film's ending, as the player is required to both rescue Han Solo and defeat Darth Vader in combat in order to finish.

Reception

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Glenn Rubenstein of Wizard magazine praised the game's plot for its faithfulness to its source material. Although he criticized the fighting and platforming elements as tedious, he said "the more diverse sequences more than make up for it."[3] Power Unlimited gave the Game Boy version 75% writing: "Empire Strikes Back for the Game Boy is mainly more of the same, compared to its predecessor Star Wars. Nevertheless, it is a fun game, although the worlds are very similar."[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Cart Queries". GamePro. No. 87. IDG. December 1995. p. 17. Patrick Lozano: Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back both came out for the NES, but was there an 8-bit version of Return of the Jedi? / Gamepro: No. Just when LucasArts would have started on Jedi for the NES, it set its sights on making the first 16-bit Super Star Wars game.
  2. ^ "Nintendo Power Awards". Nintendo Power. No. 46. March 1993. p. 99. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
  3. ^ a b Rubenstein, Glenn (November 1992). "At the Controls". Wizard (15): 28. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Power Unlimited Game Database". powerweb.nl (in Dutch). November 1994. Archived from the original on August 27, 2003. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
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